What Trading Is Really Like

Tuesday, November 1, 2016 22:27

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.

How long can you keep your head above water before the next wave?

I know I am often guilty of over-simplifying what it means to trade when I post here on Trin Café. Trading with discipline is important, having a trading plan is a must, consistency is key, blah blah blah… I’ve spent a lot time here showing my best trades, some of the trades I posted were being updated live as I went through the trade. I later realized I could post live trades on Twitter a lot easier.
Why am I posting my trades, am I trying to prove something to someone, am I trying to prove something to myself… maybe I just want to brag on social media about an amazing winning trade?

I have never posted in detail what it’s like to go weeks without a solid winner, and this is my attempt to explain a lot. My mentor poured cold water all over my aspirations for consistent profits when he said, “a string of losing trades will happen”. It’s not a matter of if, there is not a trading plan or method that can prevent the inevitable string of losers from happening. Anyone who says they never experienced a string of losers I would be very suspicious of what they are selling. In the past few months, I have realized that my method will fail multiple times in a row.

Let’s put this in some perspective, I have spent years studying, backtesting, reviewing, practicing a very specific mechanical entry and exit based on technical analysis specific to the YM. I have documented how many points my method will produce on a weekly and monthly basis. I factored in the win/loss percentages and determined my needed profit targets in conjunction with my stops and I must say my stops are purposely very generous. But nothing can prepare a trader for when it’s time to put years of practice to the test when you are met with market conditions that are not even worth risking capital in for weeks at a time. I often use the analogy of managing a winning trade akin to how a surfer rides a wave. (I personally think it’s an awesome analogy because surfing is similar in nature to how trading encapsulates skill and the management of risk) A better analogy of what it’s like to be a full-time trader is trying not to drown in the undertow in the middle of a storm.

Another thing I will no longer do here on Tring Café is equate trading to baseball. You can find on the internet claims of 50 percent or better winning trades. These percentages give the perception that near every other trade is a winning trade. I have been guilty of throwing out win/loss percentages as if it were a batting average, I’ve been tainted with lingo of marketers who prey on active and aspiring retail traders google searching (day trading consistency, stock picker, winning trading method) keywords to find the magic key to trading success.

My motivation to post on Trin Café is usually driven by an idea or emotion I have in my head that I want to express. For me personally, posting my charts or my performance feels less productive, and far less therapeutic for my trading alter ego. At Trin Café I will continue to share my personal experience with trading in a form that I hope to be interesting or at a minimum entertaining.